A Cataract Surgery Camp in Vavuniya on 1st & 2nd Dec 2018

Assist RR were funding cataract surgeries in Sri Lanka with the financial support of many like minded organisations and individuals. Until the end of 2016, Assist RR enabled more than 2500 surgeries. However, we hadn’t been able to fund any surgeries for the past two and a half years. Dr Champa Banagala, a retired eye surgeon, recently agreed to assist patients from the North and worked tirelessly to conduct a camp in Vavuniya and, in spite of all the challenges, she succeeded in organising a cataract surgery camp in Vavuniya on 1^st & 2^nd Dec 2018. Four surgeons participated and contributed to the success of this camp, in which 134 surgeries were performed to restore eyesight. The surgeons, who volunteered, were Dr Rasangani Premathillake, Dr Yasodha Ramesh, Dr Prem Anand, Dr Mahesh and Dr Chamara Kumarage. Doctors told us that there were nearly 30% of the patients, who were blind (lost eyesight in both eyes) as a result of cataract. A few patients, who underwent surgeries in our last camp in Vavuniya in June 2016, underwent surgeries this time in their second eyes. These poor and vulnerable patients were made to wait for nearly two and a half years to restore eyesight in their second eyes. An elderly man after his surgery started crying and thanked profusely for enabling him to regain his eyesight. There were many more moving stories! Almost 90% of the patients appear to be very poor and some of them couldn’t walk unaided due to blindness. They have been waiting for this free service for nearly 2 to 3 years because they are poor. Otherwise, they would have undergone surgeries privately. There are many generous like-minded organisations and individuals, who are prepared to support this service. We can assist many more patients to regain their eyesight. This Vavuniya camp was fully funded by Enlightenment Circle, an arm of Saiva Munnetra Sangam, London. We would like to express our gratitude to Enlightenment Circle for their generous support. From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank Dr Champa Banagala for organising the camp, and the four surgeons for their selfless services to the needy patients, Ministry of Health for providing free lenses, and many staff of Vavuniya Hospital, who provided all the assistances needed to make the event successful. If any of you would like to support this service to the poor and vulnerable patients, please use the link below to contribute. If the Ministry of Health provides the lenses, it will cost around £20 to fund the consumables needed for a surgery and other expenses. Mydonate Fund Raising Page for Cataract Surgeries